The light swallowed everything.
Kael’s grip.
The palace.
The voices.
Even fear.
And I was back inside the fracture again.
But this time…
I wasn’t split.
I was being pulled together.
Fast.
Too fast.
The other me stood waiting in the center of the silver void.
Still.
Unblinking.
Not resisting.
Just… accepting.
The Guardian’s voice echoed one final time.
“Choose acceptance, or be erased by division.”
My breath shook.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
The other me finally spoke again.
Calm.
Certain.
“You don’t need to understand. You need to accept.”
Pain shot through me as the two versions began to merge closer.
Memories collided.
Kael’s voice.
A crown of light.
A war before time.
A promise I made.
A promise Kael made back.
My knees buckled.
“No… stop—this is
